Renting to International Students – advice for Landlords

Don’t let renting to international students be a worry! Escape Campus have years of working with International Students who can make fantastic tenants. However, it’s sometimes hard for them to find UK-based guarantors, so we work with students to make sure that they understand what they’ll need to bring in order to rent a house from a Lancaster based landlord.

Usually, students have to provide a UK based guarantor in order to rent a house so that if they drop out of their tenancy, landlords won’t miss out on rent. It is understandably difficult for most international students to find UK based guarantors so we can advise you on several alternatives, for example by taking larger deposits or arranging a different rent payment structure from international students, securing your income whilst keeping this large part of the student market open to you.

From 1st February 2016, all landlords have a legal obligation to check the immigration status of their tenants to make sure that they have the right to reside in the UK and landlords will need to see evidence of this, such as an original visa certificate, not a copy. The University is usually happy to issue students with a letter confirming their right to reside in the UK while they are studying and as landlords and letting agents we can provide this checking service to landlords if required, to make sure that tenancies comply with the law.

The good thing about renting to international students is that some may be willing to pay a year’s worth of rent up front, which makes it a sound investment for you as a landlord.

There are little touches that tend to attract international students such as making an offer to provide some kitchen essentials that are difficult to travel with, such as a kettle or toaster and, like all our students, fast broadband is a must, especially when trying to keep in touch with friends and family abroad. We can help and advise you if you particularly want to attract international students so give us a ring today on 01524 926326 or e-mail us and we can help you find some great tenants.

We are agent members of LU Homes and we attend housing fairs at both Universities every year. We also work very hard to help landlords fill vacant rooms as they arrive so if you are missing a tenant from a group or you have a house that just isn’t renting, get in touch and we can help you to find someone quickly using our campus-wide networks of students.